Category

Published on

22 May 2012

Abstract

Bio

Dr. Kimani C. Toussaint, Jr. earned his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1996, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Boston University in 1999 and 2004, respectively. His dissertation work focused on using polarization-entangled photons to probe the optical properties of materials. Prior to starting at Illinois, Toussaint was an NSF Minority Postdoctoral Fellow in Biology at the University of Chicago, where he worked on interference microscopy, exotic polarization states, and optical trapping. In 2006, he was one of 100 top American scientists in the United States (under 45) to be selected for the National Academy of Science's 18th Annual Kavli Frontiers of Science Symposium.

Dr. Toussaint joined the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in August 2007, and became an affiliate in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and an affiliate in the Bioengineering Department, in October 2007, and March 2008, respectively. His group pursues interdisciplinary research in optical physics and engineering that has applications in many disciplines, including biology and chemistry. Currently, he is developing an advanced optical microscopy platform for characterizing and manipulating both nano- and biological systems.